Lets discuss a topic that was brought up to me. Desalination.
97% of the Earth's water is Salt Water. Unusable for our purposes. The other 3% is rapidly being polluted or used so fast that our aquifers and ground water can not recharge quick enough. Logically, we look into how to use the other 97% of the earth's water.
Desalination is a process that takes ocean water and removes the salt to make it drinkable. Many companies have already invested in this process as a viable way to ensure water is being provided. The process works, but it comes with some drawbacks.
De-sal is a very energy consuming business. It requires a lot of electricity which is supplied in terms of coal and oil. The efficiency of the process is very low, so economically this process may be very expensive. If we begin doing desalination, the greenhouse gas rates in the atmosphere will rise with burning of more fossil fuels to supply this process.
Now, a much better and cheaper option in my opinion is to just TAKE CARE of the water we already have. Lets conserve our resources and preserve the lifeblood of our planet. Practicing good management of land and water will ensure that our children will have safe drinking water without fear of it running out.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Water: "An economic good" ?
The politics of water in recent years have become purely Evil. The capitalist, imperialist countries in this world have set as precedent that water may be a commodity and can be sold to those without water. Water has always been seen as a resource that our earth supplies us, and as stewards of the earth, it is our responsibility to maintain a sustainable supply of water.
But that isn't happening. Why?
The rate at which water is being used is alarming. We are using groundwater 15 times faster than it can be replenished. The soil beneath us is drying up and collapsing in upon us. (search: Winter Park, FL) We have neglected sustainable management practices in regard to pollution. Some countries pollute water directly from the source, with no treatment. The earth is equipped to handle some pollution, but we are rapidly stripping its ability to do so. By destroying wetlands, building dams, harvesting forests, and overdeveloping we are taking away the natural processes by which the Earth supplies us with clean, sustainable sources of water.
Water is a basic necessity of life. All people should have access to basic water rights. Access in remote, undeveloped, and overpopulated areas is very hard to obtain. Corporations have seized this opportunity to capitalize. By pumping water that they don't need to pay for then selling it for outrageous prices, Water companies have become multinational superpowers that government itself is powerless to stop. Vivendi, Suez, Veolia, RWE, Thames, Perrier, and Nestle have all become the big water corporations which we will soon depend on for our water. When public works can not keep up with demand, these companies will sell water to our cities and towns, water that they pump from our rivers that they are depleting. How terrible is that? The reason these companies are nearly impossible to stop is because they use many different names in many different countries. By the time government attempts to shut down one company, it just changes its name to another alias. Corruption and greed are becoming more powerful than Law.
Now, who is to blame? French water has been privatized since the time of Napoleon. But recently, this trend has spread due to the work of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President Reagan. They brought the entire United Nations to start thinking about water as an economic resource rather than a basic human necessity. Privatizing this basic human need throws out the incentive to actually deliver good water and be economically responsible. Many people trust the conservative model of free market and no government. But there is no market anymore. You do not choose your water company, you just get whatever your city buys. And odds are, political forces are at work to make that decision. (Think bribery) Don't believe it? The last Mayor of Atlanta, Bill Campbell was paid off by Suez for a contract to renovate and supply water. He was paid in the form of "political contributions" but he wasn't running for office. Suez laid off 200 jobs when they took over Atlanta's water supply network, but those employees were necessary for completing the job of replacing the pipelines.
These companies don't care about anything except for money. They will stop at nothing to get what they want and as citizens were are damn near worthless to stop them- alone. This is where we need to band together to get water rights laws enacted to protect our resources and our health. Water will very soon be more precious than gold, oil and diamonds. But, we can't afford to lose water.
Source: "Blue Gold: Water Wars"
But that isn't happening. Why?
The rate at which water is being used is alarming. We are using groundwater 15 times faster than it can be replenished. The soil beneath us is drying up and collapsing in upon us. (search: Winter Park, FL) We have neglected sustainable management practices in regard to pollution. Some countries pollute water directly from the source, with no treatment. The earth is equipped to handle some pollution, but we are rapidly stripping its ability to do so. By destroying wetlands, building dams, harvesting forests, and overdeveloping we are taking away the natural processes by which the Earth supplies us with clean, sustainable sources of water.
Water is a basic necessity of life. All people should have access to basic water rights. Access in remote, undeveloped, and overpopulated areas is very hard to obtain. Corporations have seized this opportunity to capitalize. By pumping water that they don't need to pay for then selling it for outrageous prices, Water companies have become multinational superpowers that government itself is powerless to stop. Vivendi, Suez, Veolia, RWE, Thames, Perrier, and Nestle have all become the big water corporations which we will soon depend on for our water. When public works can not keep up with demand, these companies will sell water to our cities and towns, water that they pump from our rivers that they are depleting. How terrible is that? The reason these companies are nearly impossible to stop is because they use many different names in many different countries. By the time government attempts to shut down one company, it just changes its name to another alias. Corruption and greed are becoming more powerful than Law.
Now, who is to blame? French water has been privatized since the time of Napoleon. But recently, this trend has spread due to the work of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President Reagan. They brought the entire United Nations to start thinking about water as an economic resource rather than a basic human necessity. Privatizing this basic human need throws out the incentive to actually deliver good water and be economically responsible. Many people trust the conservative model of free market and no government. But there is no market anymore. You do not choose your water company, you just get whatever your city buys. And odds are, political forces are at work to make that decision. (Think bribery) Don't believe it? The last Mayor of Atlanta, Bill Campbell was paid off by Suez for a contract to renovate and supply water. He was paid in the form of "political contributions" but he wasn't running for office. Suez laid off 200 jobs when they took over Atlanta's water supply network, but those employees were necessary for completing the job of replacing the pipelines.
These companies don't care about anything except for money. They will stop at nothing to get what they want and as citizens were are damn near worthless to stop them- alone. This is where we need to band together to get water rights laws enacted to protect our resources and our health. Water will very soon be more precious than gold, oil and diamonds. But, we can't afford to lose water.
Source: "Blue Gold: Water Wars"
Monday, April 18, 2011
How does water work?
So you turn on your faucet and you get clean water. Where did it come from?
Your water came from a river or a lake, which is then pumped into a water treatment facility. Inside this facility, the water is made potable by adding chemicals like lime, potassium permanganate, fluoride, soda ash, ferric sulfate, ammonium hydroxide, chlorine and carbon dioxide. These chemicals disinfect your water and make it taste good too. The processes are just as important as the chemicals used. The chemicals and processes are done in a precise way to ensure maximum efficiency of the treatment plant for optimum quality.
Once it is done being treated, it is pumped through large water mains into your city. Your neighborhood is connected to this water main by a smaller pipe, and your street is connected to that smaller pipe. Your house connects to the street pipes which supplies water to your toilets, sinks, showers, washing machines, dishwashers, spigots, and sprinklers.
What happens to the used water? Your used water flows from your home into a separate pipe network that carries wastewater back into the system. The water flows to a central wastewater treatment plant where it is treated with biochemical processes and physical solids removal processes. After the water is treated into acceptable limits, it is discharged into your local river or lake and the cycle begins again.
Now what about rainwater? Water from precipitation flows freely without pumping, usually in a separate storm water sewer system. Water that collects and flows in the streets is called runoff and it is collected by drains in the street, which lead to the pipe system. The pipe system then flows directly into the local water supply without treatment. Some cities choose to treat their storm water runoff if it is polluted by dirty streets and unsanitary pipes.
Now I hope you learned a bit about the water that flows beneath your feet everyday. The next post will be about the economics and politics of water.
Your water came from a river or a lake, which is then pumped into a water treatment facility. Inside this facility, the water is made potable by adding chemicals like lime, potassium permanganate, fluoride, soda ash, ferric sulfate, ammonium hydroxide, chlorine and carbon dioxide. These chemicals disinfect your water and make it taste good too. The processes are just as important as the chemicals used. The chemicals and processes are done in a precise way to ensure maximum efficiency of the treatment plant for optimum quality.
Once it is done being treated, it is pumped through large water mains into your city. Your neighborhood is connected to this water main by a smaller pipe, and your street is connected to that smaller pipe. Your house connects to the street pipes which supplies water to your toilets, sinks, showers, washing machines, dishwashers, spigots, and sprinklers.
What happens to the used water? Your used water flows from your home into a separate pipe network that carries wastewater back into the system. The water flows to a central wastewater treatment plant where it is treated with biochemical processes and physical solids removal processes. After the water is treated into acceptable limits, it is discharged into your local river or lake and the cycle begins again.
Now what about rainwater? Water from precipitation flows freely without pumping, usually in a separate storm water sewer system. Water that collects and flows in the streets is called runoff and it is collected by drains in the street, which lead to the pipe system. The pipe system then flows directly into the local water supply without treatment. Some cities choose to treat their storm water runoff if it is polluted by dirty streets and unsanitary pipes.
Now I hope you learned a bit about the water that flows beneath your feet everyday. The next post will be about the economics and politics of water.
The Sanctity of Water
In the last post, I gave a couple ways that we use water everyday of our life. It's surprising how much we depend on it, if you think about it. In the United States, and in most other developed countries, water simply flows when you turn the handle on your sink or turn on your shower. Do we take for granted the fact that we have an instantly accessible supply of clean water for pennies on the dollar? Yes.
Lets look at things from a different perspective.. In undeveloped and underprivileged places like Africa and parts of the middle east, drinking water is miles from your village or town. More often than not, the closest resource is a river that has been polluted so badly that drinking the water may kill you. AND IT DOES. 42,000 deaths each week occur from water related disease; that is more than all war and violence kills. Lets take a sample of what is actually in this water: E.coli, Salmonella typhi, Schistosoma, Cholera vibrios, and Hepatitis A. That is some dirty water. But it is all that some families have to rely upon.
The point of this article isn't meant to make you feel guilty about living in a privileged world, but rather to convey some perspective about how some people aren't living with even the bare essentials.
Stated in a claim by the website http://www.charitywater.org/whywater/, "By 2050, the world's population is estimated to grow by three billion and 90% of this growth will be in the developing world." How are these countries supposed to support this kind of population explosion if they can't support themselves adequately now?
As an environmental advocate, I believe that we should do all we can to make sure these people have access to a sustainable, convenient, maintainable, inexpensive, and safe source of drinking water. The website above does a lot of work in drilling water wells in remote villages of Africa. Donating to them will ensure that people get the clean water that we should all be entitled to.
These villages are able to get water from outside companies, but it is extremely overpriced and unrealistic. More on this in future posts.
Lets look at things from a different perspective.. In undeveloped and underprivileged places like Africa and parts of the middle east, drinking water is miles from your village or town. More often than not, the closest resource is a river that has been polluted so badly that drinking the water may kill you. AND IT DOES. 42,000 deaths each week occur from water related disease; that is more than all war and violence kills. Lets take a sample of what is actually in this water: E.coli, Salmonella typhi, Schistosoma, Cholera vibrios, and Hepatitis A. That is some dirty water. But it is all that some families have to rely upon.
The point of this article isn't meant to make you feel guilty about living in a privileged world, but rather to convey some perspective about how some people aren't living with even the bare essentials.
Stated in a claim by the website http://www.charitywater.org/whywater/, "By 2050, the world's population is estimated to grow by three billion and 90% of this growth will be in the developing world." How are these countries supposed to support this kind of population explosion if they can't support themselves adequately now?
As an environmental advocate, I believe that we should do all we can to make sure these people have access to a sustainable, convenient, maintainable, inexpensive, and safe source of drinking water. The website above does a lot of work in drilling water wells in remote villages of Africa. Donating to them will ensure that people get the clean water that we should all be entitled to.
These villages are able to get water from outside companies, but it is extremely overpriced and unrealistic. More on this in future posts.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
How do we use water?
Water is used everyday, by everyone. How do we use water? Just waking up in the morning, you used water to shower, brush your teeth and go to the bathroom. Cooking, laundry, drinking, and washing your car are just a few ways we use water in our homes.
But lets think about how we use water indirectly. Every product that you own that came from a factory used water in the production process and for cooling its systems. Your vegetables and fruit that you eat are grown with a lot of water. The grass that the cows eat needs water too. Your gas in your car was refined from oil using large amounts of water. The roads you drive on are cleaned and maintained with water. The electricity that powers your home may have come from a hydroelectric dam or coal burning plant that uses water to cool its discharge. The hospitals that you visit rely on clean water for taking care of its facilities and patients.
There are millions of ways that you can think of that we use water. We need water to live. How can one molecule, H20, be so valuable? Its more valuable than Gold or Oil or diamonds. With something this important, shouldn't we be taking care of it better? We exploit this resource like it will last forever. How can anyone ever justify polluting the one thing that we are dependent on to live? These are all concerns that we are beginning to address in the world. Worldwide conservation and preservation is paramount in ensuring that we survive. In the next post, I'll address the supply of water and why it is so scarce to so many people. Keep following!
But lets think about how we use water indirectly. Every product that you own that came from a factory used water in the production process and for cooling its systems. Your vegetables and fruit that you eat are grown with a lot of water. The grass that the cows eat needs water too. Your gas in your car was refined from oil using large amounts of water. The roads you drive on are cleaned and maintained with water. The electricity that powers your home may have come from a hydroelectric dam or coal burning plant that uses water to cool its discharge. The hospitals that you visit rely on clean water for taking care of its facilities and patients.
There are millions of ways that you can think of that we use water. We need water to live. How can one molecule, H20, be so valuable? Its more valuable than Gold or Oil or diamonds. With something this important, shouldn't we be taking care of it better? We exploit this resource like it will last forever. How can anyone ever justify polluting the one thing that we are dependent on to live? These are all concerns that we are beginning to address in the world. Worldwide conservation and preservation is paramount in ensuring that we survive. In the next post, I'll address the supply of water and why it is so scarce to so many people. Keep following!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Welcome to my blog!
What is this blog about?
My blog will be all about the wonderful resource that we all depend on each day, Water! I intend to cover many topics:
-Ryan
My blog will be all about the wonderful resource that we all depend on each day, Water! I intend to cover many topics:
- Why it is so important in our lives,
- What we are doing to pollute it,
- lack of clean water in developing countries and how to fix this
- Basic understanding of how water is treated and maintained
- What policies and legislations are involved in water management
- The devastation that water can cause
- The bounty of life that water can cause
- The economics of water supply and demand
- The political battle over water
-Ryan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)